TAIPEI - Export orders in Taiwan grew for the seventh consecutive month to reach $38.21 billion in August, an increase of 5.2 percent from a year earlier, data from the island's economic authority showed on Monday.

The total volume in August edged up merely 0.1 percent from July, with the monthly growth rate also tapering off, according to the statistics.

August's growth was mainly driven by electronic export orders, which jumped 12.6 percent from a year earlier.

However, shrinking orders of chemical and plastic products bit in Taiwan's performance last month, the data showed.

Buyers in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong placed 77.69 billion U.S. dollars with Taiwan's manufacturers in August, up 5.4 percent year on year, contributing 26.2 percent of the island's total export orders.